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<title>Dancing in the Dark by LotharWinchester</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29282364">Dancing in the Dark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotharWinchester/pseuds/LotharWinchester'>LotharWinchester</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>100 Fanfiction Collection [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Punisher (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Not Beta Read, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2018-11-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2018-11-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:54:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>383</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29282364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotharWinchester/pseuds/LotharWinchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt:<br/>"It was random and silly and barely 1 o'clock in the morning, but they found themselves dancing in the darkened living room to no music and a whole lot of laughter."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Frank Castle/Karen Page</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>100 Fanfiction Collection [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150304</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dancing in the Dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was still getting up in the middle of the night.</p><p>Frank Castle had some of his life back. After everything that had come to light with Billy and its ending, he still had nightmares.</p><p>Nightmares where he never came home from his tour and Billy had come back to kill his family.  Nightmares where the truth of what happened was a lie and he would just wake up beside Maria.</p><p>The newest nightmare was what woke him up. Karen, dying in his arms because she protected him in the paper and stood up to more criminal organizations than he could count.</p><p>Frank sighed heavily as he placed his bare feet on the cool wood floor. The alarm clock beside his twin bed said twelve thirty and he had internally hoped it was later than that. His heart was still racing and his palms were soaked in sweat.</p><p> </p><p>When he made it into the living room, Karen was still awake, still typing her latest results of her investigation while the details were still fresh.</p><p> </p><p>Hit the Road to Dreamland played softly from her laptop's speakers as he grabbed a glass of water.</p><p> </p><p>When the song came to an end, Karen sighed and relaxed into the sofa to rub her temples.</p><p> </p><p>“You should get some sleep.” Frank's voice was still slightly ladened with sleep and he cleared his throat to try to get rid of it.</p><p> </p><p>Karen laughed, “So should you.”</p><p> </p><p>Frank let a ghost of a smile cross his lips as he stood beside the sofa.  </p><p> </p><p>It was almost one am, but it didn't matter to either of them as Karen took his hand and he led the dance in her nearly silent flat.   </p><p> </p><p>Karen started laughing as Frank yawned.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Karen..</em>” he grunted and she continued to laugh.   </p><p> </p><p>She was trying her damn hardest to get him to smile.   </p><p> </p><p>He kept the lead of their dance as she stumbled a little bit.   She stepped away and sat on the couch, Frank sat beside her.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.”  He tilted his head towards her as she gently grasped his hand.  His heart rate had calmed and his hands had stopped shaking.</p><p> </p><p>Karen rubbed her thumb across the top of his hand to keep him relaxed.   Frank knew he was damn lucky to still have her.</p>
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